


Treaty

by gaylore



Series: This Something [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: And it's also surprisingly peaceful? Mostly, Angst, At least I tried, It's all subtle, M/M, Not telling you any more, Not too many tags on this one because SPOILERS, Plus I mean there's not actually too much going on that can be quantified?, but yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 05:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12500104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylore/pseuds/gaylore
Summary: After the events of Times, Gaara has a decision to make. It's not hard, but it is. (Just like writing summaries of a work that's basically an unspoken character study, ack.)Subtle angst, against a backdrop of romantic cliché which I have hopefully redeemed.





	Treaty

**Author's Note:**

> Quick warning for dubcon. Only implied, and not enough that I checked the box/put in a tag, but enough that you may want to be cautious in case that's a squick or trigger for you.

Naruto has the power to crush this heart in his hands, and Gaara is the only one who knows it.

Or he’s wrong. Hinata—no. Gaara is convinced that she isn’t the same.

He knows what happened in the exams, and he knows what happened to her: Naruto fills her heart. Bolsters it, secures it, _focuses_ it. Of course she hurts now. But if he leaves, she won’t crumble. Only dim, and then she’ll flicker back.

Hyuga Hinata isn’t made of sand. She is made of light.

And which one would win?

No. Nature doesn’t compete. It just exists. And an unfortunate side effect of the existence of light is that it can melt sand into glass. And glass can shatter.

Now isn’t the time for metaphors. But if _this something_ is a beach and Gaara is sand and Hinata is light, then _what is Naruto_?

He couldn’t be the sun, even if he was, once, in another philosophical lifetime. Because the sun only touches the sand _through_ light, and that doesn’t make sense at all. Not when all they ever do is touch. Direct, unstoppable, inseparable.

Eureka. Naruto is the sea.

And this must be erosion.

“Thank you. Gaara.”

Now is not the time.

“No. Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did.”

“You never thanked me before.”

“Because I was always thanking God for you.”

“And you can’t now?”

“You won’t let me.”

“I’ll let you do anything.”

Naruto can't deny it. He sighs, pulls Gaara closer.

They are interlocked. Gaara’s head is bowed, hiding where Naruto’s neck meets his shoulders, like always. But their legs are hooked together. Gaara’s ankle is crossed over his. They are hip-to-hip. Heartbeat-to-heartbeat.

“But you won’t let me leave.”

“Why would you leave?” Naruto wonders. “This is your house.”

Naruto doesn’t know it. That’s the worst of this.

Gaara’s house is Gaara’s house. But if Gaara is Naruto’s, then everything Gaara’s is Naruto’s. And nothing can be Gaara’s now that ever was Naruto’s. That’s how this works. Why can’t Naruto know it?

“I have to go back,” Gaara insists into Naruto's collarbone. “Pay for that drink.”

“No. Shush. The sun’s not out.”

“Isn’t it always?”

“Sleep.”

Gaara always does what Naruto asks, but he knows that he’ll never sleep again.

***

Naruto always kicks his covers off in the night. Gaara learned to accept it a long time ago. Sometimes he doesn’t even bother pulling them up and over in the first place. When he does, it’s only for security—to make it last—and they know it won’t, so what’s the point?

Gaara doesn’t fight it when warmth abandons him. It’s cold in the desert at night, and cold makes it harder to sleep. Instead of shivering, he extricates himself. Lifts his head, unhooks his leg, distances his hips, separates the hearts.

He slips out, stands up, and Naruto barely stirs. _Barely_ , but it’s enough that Gaara has to flinch and look.

Damn it. He’s beautiful, even hungover and drooling. His head rolls forward into the pillow so one ear, one eye, one half of his nose, one side of his mouth is buried in fabric. His hair’s half spiked, half flattened, like you would expect except the mess is charming. And those long lashes—they’re gold in the sun, but almost white by the moon—and the little wisps of fox whiskers. And further down, always drawn to the spiral, the center of everything, of course, and _of course_ all of _him_ is begging to be _touched_ —

Gaara has to be gone before Uzumaki Naruto wakes up.

He had clothes. Where did they go? Dropped neatly on the floor next to the bed. Naruto was as careful getting them out of the way as he was taking them off.

One centimeter per second. Like he was waiting for Gaara to say no. Again.

Gaara pulls on his clothes.

He picks up his bag. It’s already packed. There’s a meeting next week. He won’t be making it, but the preparations will still help him.

Three days there. Three days back. Will he come back?

***

She opens the door within two knocks. He shouldn’t be surprised. She’s widely known for manners.

“Lord Kazekage!”

But Gaara can’t help but wince when greeted with Hyuga Hinata’s face, wide white eyes and pink-shocked cheeks.

Is it his position? Respect? Awe? He doesn’t deserve any of these things. Not from this woman. Not for why he’s here.

“May I come in?”

He keeps his voice soft. Half of him wants to die a mute, and the other half wants to scream until his throat bleeds. Measured words are a painful compromise.

He could have used his Allied Shinobi voice, his military voice. She’s a veteran like everyone else. But then he might have pulled rank, accidentally, and he deserves obedience least of all.

“Of course.”

She steps aside, gesturing slender, curled fingertips towards the inside.

Once he’s in, Gaara focuses on taking off his sandals. It gives him something to look at that won’t make his heart sink. He concentrates on the dirt caked in the edges and grooves of the sole. There was enough sand in the soil that he had at least kept his toes clean, but he couldn’t do much about the shoe itself. Not unless he’d made a conveyor belt sidewalk out of the sand, and who has time for that? Too many sticks and pebbles to manage, anyway, once he’d crossed into the Land of Fire.

And walking was good. He could think about how sore his legs were, as opposed to anything else.

“I think Naruto is in the Hokage Office,” Hinata begins.

Konoha really doesn’t keep good track of its leaders. Unless there was an Anbu operative in the bar. Or outside the bedroom window. Gaara needs to think about _anything else_.

“He’s in Suna,” Gaara informs a particularly shiny grain of sand.

“Oh! Were you working together?”

Gaara can no longer pretend that his sandals are fascinating. He sets them down with a sigh, then straightens his spine again. His bones ache, even if he’s too young to say so; he can pretend not to have heard her over the cracks. For another moment.

But she’s still smiling at him. Soft, gentle, hopeful. Not questioning, not even quizzical—as he imagines anyone else would be, confronted with one of the Gokage dusting off his coat in her hallway. Even the surprise is gone now.

“I need to talk with you, Hinata. Please,” he adds, in such a rush that now he’s worried she didn’t hear.

“Okay.” She hesitates. “Gaara.” His name almost, _almost_ comes out a question.

He follows her to the living room. She takes a few moments to adjust the cushions, then motions for him to sit.

They sit across from each other, Gaara cross-legged and gripping each knee, Hinata kneeling with hands folded in her lap.

He stares at the floor, then shakes and lifts his head. She deserves eye contact for this.

“What did you want to talk about?” she prompts. A little of the old uncertainty in her voice now. They haven’t really spoken or even seen each other in passing since the war. She must be wondering why the Fifth Kazekage is in her house, uninvited, looking like he’s ready to vomit on her tatami.

“It’s me.”

The sigh of relief, of brief accomplishment at forcing it out rushes out of him before he realizes that she needs more context. She’s frowning, just slightly, but it’s from confusion, not anger. Now he has to start all over.

Her eyes are so _steady_. Waiting.

“I’m Naruto’s . . .”

He can’t find the word he’s looking for. He can’t call himself a mistress, even if that’s what he would be in another world. And he’s not going to say he’s a whore, even if that’s true, because if he can’t curse in front of his sister then he certainly won’t to Naruto’s fiancée.

But then he realizes that just the two words he has already can stand true by themselves, and he falls silent.

But Hinata is smart. She knows what he means by it. He can’t tell now why she’s frowning. Of course he knows _why_ , but is she about to cry? Preparing to punch him?

He prays for the second one. He forces his muscles to relax, reminds himself why he didn’t bring his gourd. If she hits him, he won’t stop her.

But he knows it won’t happen. She doesn’t know that he would let her. He’s a general and a Kage and a killer. Which one scares her most?

“How long?”

She looks him right in the eye. White, hints of calm violet—still steady—he shouldn’t look, but he can’t stop.

“Six months,” he admits, quietly.

She stares, and he is compelled.

“It started when he was appointed. It went on for a few weeks—then ended for a few months, and then—” And then _something_.

“He proposed three months after he came back from Suna.”

Gaara starts. He didn’t ask her a question. He doesn’t deserve an answer. But she’s telling him, and she won’t stop.

“He proposed after three months,” she repeats. “Three months without you?”

It is a question. She knows the answer, but he still nods.

She sighs and shuts her eyes.

“You can tell them,” Gaara can’t stop himself from bursting out.

“Why would I?”

Why would she?

Hinata isn't vengeful. She won't tell a soul, even though Gaara doesn't deserve a secret-keeper. Does Naruto?

 _Naruto_. Gaara has to learn to talk again.

“He tried. He tried not to, but then we talked, and then we— _weren’t_ talking, and it kept _happening,_ and we kept trying to stop, but—”

“Naruto never stops.”

Of course. She knows.

“It’s why we love him,” she concludes.

 _Love_. Gaara finds himself mouthing the word as he nods, even though she isn’t looking. Because she isn’t looking.

Until he realizes that she is, and he clamps his mouth shut, face warming.

“Sakura was helping us plan it.”

“She’s—”

“His best friend. Her and Sasuke. But Sasuke’s never here.”

Naruto has told him about that.

“So she goes out with us, whenever she’s not at the hospital.”

Hinata has stopped looking at him. Instead, she’s staring at her hands, which she has lifted up to her face, like she’s examining the gleam there. She’s smiling again, for a moment, until she remembers that she shouldn’t.

“I think . . . I think Naruto is my best friend,” she tells him, or her palms. Carefully.

“He was my first friend.” Gaara answers before he thinks.

“Then you understand what it’s like, to love someone that much. To follow him, to do your best to be like him.”

“I do.” He does.

“But you love him differently.”

“How do you know so much?” He ought to think.

Hinata smiles at him, and she doesn’t stop.

“So you should give this back to him for me.”

The gleam slips off her finger into her palm. Then she reaches across to drop it in his hand. Warm silver.

“No, I—I’m not going—”

“You’re going to see him again.” How does she know? Are her eyes telling her?

“And you’re not?”

“I hope I see him every day.”

With the innocence, the sincerity in her voice, Gaara hopes so, too.

“And I hope I’ll still see Sakura. I hope it wasn’t all the wedding. I hope she’ll still want to go out.” She pauses. “You know?”

“I know.”

She leaves her hand for a moment, pushing his fingers gently inward to his wristbone, then pulls away.

“Are you going back?”

“I don’t know.”

She’s been so honest to him. It wouldn’t be right to break that.

**Author's Note:**

> THAT PROBABLY SUCKED but what can you do. I really tried, and this was necessary. If you're in this series purely for Naruto and Gaara being (emotionally closed-off) (and stupid) dorks together, I don't blame you for skipping this one, but I had to write it. I may revise it later, and if I do, I will incorporate suggestions.  
> The main issue I had at the end of Times was whether or not sex was going to happen. I only got one vote (AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION, PEOPLE!) and it was a no. And I tried to honor that, but after a couple hours of trying I didn't feel like I could advance the plot otherwise, so I compromised with myself. The sex happened, but we pick up right after it (or at the very least, we didn't get *in scene* until after it). And that was the dubcon warning + the Mature rating, by the way, because it's pretty clear in the dialogue (as well as context from the previous fic) that Gaara was hesitant.  
> Also--MY NOTES ARE PROPHETIC, because I told you last time about how I decided against including a bunch of tide-related water bullshit in Times AND HERE WE ARE. /Out of the gate/ with a big fat beach-themed extended metaphor. Does it work? I don't know. But it was what I needed to move past writer's block, so sue me. (Actually, please don't sue me, I need what money I have to buy materials for a cosplay gourd.)  
> Now for the unhappily married elephants in the room. "Sadie, what's Hinata doing here?" "Sadie, what's Hinata doing /not/ in the character tags?" I'll answer backwards. She's not in the tags because I didn't want to spoil, even though I'm pretty sure you all could tell by the end of the second section what Gaara was planning to do. And she's here for two reasons: 1) I love her and 2) Gaara needs her. In Times, he was feeling guilty as hell about her knowing there was a man, but not knowing it was him. He had to fix that, even if it risked his reputation. I partly hate myself for incorporating her mostly to advance Gaara's development, but . . . he's my narrative character and my main focus, I suppose, so I feel somewhat justified.  
> A few quick notes on my interpretation of Hina babe. (It's my first time writing her and I love her so much, I'm so scared!) In the series, I remember that she would say Naruto's name--just 'Naruto'--so /fondly/, as opposed to Gaara's reverent 'Uzumaki Naruto.' I tried to nod to that. I also did my best to emphasize that while she's still gentle, she's more confident and "steady," mentally and emotionally and socially, than she was when she was younger. That's why she makes a point of looking Gaara in the eye. And . . . hm. What am I forgetting? Oh, only the most important thing!  
> I may have been /too/ subtle with this. It may take you a little while to realize it. I may be ruining your reading experience in pointing it out. BUT MY BEAUTIFUL ACE HINATA IS /CLEARLY/ GAY-ROMANTIC FOR SAKURA, and please hear me out on this.  
> First, it would be so healthy and pure. (Self-assured girls going out of their way in loving and assuring each other, d'awww!!) Second, I think it's perfectly valid even with the pretty obvious crush she had on Naruto when she was younger.  
> Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying it was just a phase. Hinata really did (and does!) love him. But I think of it as an affectionate relationship. I think of it as her admiring someone so much and wanting to /be/ that someone so much that she thought it was romantic, and so did everyone else in a very heteronormative Ninja World. Basically, it was ninja comphet.  
> I won't speak for my Naruto's feelings towards her--I'm still working those out.  
> And no. I didn't use this as a romantic deus ex machina (canon gf steps aside so ship bf can have the man). At least, I hope I didn't. Gaara's obviously still very confused about what he's going to do, because even if Hinata has gently but firmly broken off the engagement, he and Naruto have a lot of history to consider. He doesn't know yet if things can ever go back to like they were in Nothing Hurts. I would have made that clearer in his internal monologue, but it didn't feel natural.  
> FINALLY--I love how tender Hinata is being towards Gaara, as a friend. Even though they don't interact much in the series . . . ahhhh, I just feel like they'll get closer, if they have the chance. I mean, Hinata was right there with her squad in the Forest of Death. She saw Gaara at almost his worst. She's probably quietly /ecstatic/ that he's finding love now. Even if it is with her fiancé. Seriously, props to Hinata for /not/ punching Gaara right in the precious tanuki face, because even if she didn't love Naruto romantically or sexually, there's indisputably something wrong about the situation the boys' relationship (take 2) grew out of.  
> Which is the exact moral and emotional issue that Gaara finds himself grappling with now.


End file.
